A winning combination of history, magic, and science that reiterates the importance of environmental preservation.
In 1917, as the Great War rages in Europe, an American forester discovers he has a gift that could preserve the marshlands he holds dear.
On a surveying trip in his home state of Wisconsin, Rand Brandt realizes he has a gift that could revitalize Clearwater Marsh: He can make plants grow with his hands. As a passionate preservationist influenced by John Muir, Rand recognizes that this newfound power can be used for good. He also recognizes with anger that bureaucracy may prevent him from succeeding in his dream to put preservation at the forefront of the political agenda. No stranger to discouragement, Rand considers his family’s view on his career. “Pining away in swamps was not man’s work, his father had scolded—and besides, added his mother, it would not save the places he loved.” In the weeks following the revelation of his new gift, he begins to learn its limitations and discovers it may not be all that he’d initially hoped. Unready to share the news with his superior, a ranger named Weston, he confides first in his lover, Gabriel, who is also part of his six-man survey team. Soon after, Rand is overcome by his excitement and shares the information with Weston, but he quickly regrets it as he “realize[s] he had not even considered what the Forest Service might want with his gift.” The service confirms his fear when he and his fellow foresters are told they are being sent to Europe. Rand is told he can have any post he chooses after the war, but for now, “conservation within our borders is vital, but right now, winning the war is the Forest Service’s top priority.” The conflict between wanting to do good and being unable to guides Rand’s decisions throughout the book. Compelling in its underlying conversation about environmental preservation, this book is rich with well-researched plant knowledge that conveys the delicate balance of ecosystems.
A winning combination of history, magic, and science that reiterates the importance of environmental preservation.Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780299343941
Page Count: 264
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2023
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
A pleasant if not entirely convincing tribute to the power of art.
A French art historian’s English-language fiction debut combines the story of a loving relationship between a grandfather and granddaughter with an enlightening discussion of art.
One day, when 10-year-old Mona removes the necklace given to her by her now-dead grandmother, she experiences a frightening, hour-long bout of blindness. Her parents take her to the doctor, who gives her a variety of tests and also advises that she see a psychiatrist. Her grandfather Henry tells her parents that he will take care of that assignment, but instead, he takes Mona on weekly visits to either the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay, or the Centre Pompidou, where each week they study a single work of art, gazing at it deeply and then discussing its impact and history and the biography of its maker. For the reader’s benefit, Schlesser also describes each of the works in scrupulous detail. As the year goes on, Mona faces the usual challenges of elementary school life and the experiences of being an only child, and slowly begins to understand the causes of her temporary blindness. Primarily an amble through a few dozen of Schlesser’s favorite works of art—some well known and others less so, from Botticelli and da Vinci through Basquiat and Bourgeois—the novel would probably benefit from being read at a leisurely pace. While the dialogue between Henry and the preternaturally patient and precocious Mona sometimes strains credulity, readers who don’t have easy access to the museums of Paris may enjoy this vicarious trip in the company of a guide who focuses equally on that which can be seen and the context that can’t be. Come for the novel, stay for the introductory art history course.
A pleasant if not entirely convincing tribute to the power of art.Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2025
ISBN: 9798889661115
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Europa Editions
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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